Ecommerce: how to sell your products online

With online retailers reporting massive surges in custom during the economic downturn, ecommerce is an attractive prospect for many retailers. With so many options available, though, it's difficult to decide what is best for your business. This guide will provide an introduction to the basics of selling online.

• What is ecommerce?
• Integrating a shop into your website
• Payment options

What is ecommerce?

Put basically, ecommerce allows you to sell your products via your website. This means you integrate a store into a website, and use encryption technology to take online payment using your customers' credit or debit cards. Having an ecommerce site allows you to grow your customer base, potentially attracting customers from all over the world.

• Ecommerce allows you to sell your products via your website
• Use encrypted software to take online payment
• Having an ecommerce site allows you to grow your customer base

Integrating a shop into your website

The best way of integrating ecommerce into your website is by buying pre-made software with a shop front and shopping cart which you customise for your website. Make sure your shop is well laid out and simple to navigate - customers will go elsewhere if they can't find the goods they're looking for.

• Buy pre-made shop front and shopping cart software
• Make sure your shop is easy to navigate
• Customers will go elsewhere if they can't find the goods they came for

Payment options

If you want to handle your own payments, you will need to open a merchant account with your bank, which will send you details of how to go about taking online payments. The alternative is to use a payment processing company, which will handle the payments for you. If you don't have a website, you may wish to join an online shopping mall such as NotontheHighStreet which will display your products for you and arrange all your payments.

• If you want to handle your own payments, open a merchant account with your bank
• A payment processing company will manage your payments on your behalf
• If you don't have your own website, you may wish to join an online shopping mall

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